They may have been rescued and their lives changed, but the trauma of their horrific experiences is yet to fade away.
The three teenaged girls — one from Kamrup (metro) and the other two from Myanmar who had come to Calcutta to get their mother treated for some ailment — were trafficked to different locations in the country before their were rescued by anti-human trafficking organisations.
These girls today came forward to share their ordeal during a workshop on trafficking organised by Global Organisation for Life Development (GOLD) in the city today. The workshop focused on how to rehabilitate victims of human trafficking and the laws governing the trade in India.
Narrating the instances that led to the disappearance of his 16-year-old daughter, Abdul Latif said, “A person had attacked my daughter, injuring her on the head. The local women’s organisation had taken up the issue and filed a complaint against the accused with the police. The family of the accused started pressurising us to withdraw the case but the women’s organisation asked us not to do so. Soon, my daughter went missing. After a while, we received a call from her saying she had been forcibly taken to Haryana. When we called back on the number, a person from the other end said Rs 55,000 had already paid to us in exchange for our daughter.”
“We became suspicious and contacted police and GOLD. My daughter was finally located and rescued from Haryana a few days ago. We still do not know who had taken her away,” Latif, a resident of Noonmati here, added.
Now Latif is waiting for the state government to provide a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to his daughter.
“A few days after I was attacked, a person approached me saying he will take me along to visit some places. I refused, as I did not know him but he forcibly took me to Haryana and tried to sell me off to another person. There, I was confined to a house and not allowed to meet anyone. He was arrested at the time of my rescue,” said the girl, who still hesitates talking to people.
The two Myanmarese girls who went missing from Calcutta were traced to Mumbai and then rescued. They are currently staying at a shelter home run by GOLD here.
“We had come from Myanmar to Calcutta for treatment of our mother. Since the place was entirely new to us, we asked advice from a few people who were travelling with us on the same train. They said they would take us to some other place where we could get better treatment. But they tricked us into boarding a separate train, while our family members were left behind. Then we landed up in Mumbai from where we were rescued and brought here,” one of the girls said.
Speaking on the occasion, Gauhati High Court advocate Monojit Biswas said, “A case of trafficking should be handled by a special police officer who has to have good knowledge about the acts and laws governing human trafficking for any purpose. The guilty should be booked under several sections so that even if he manages to escape with minimal punishment under one section, he can be penalised under another. When a minor is forced into prostitution, even if a sexual act is performed with her consent, the law considers it to be a non-consent and the person indulging in such acts can be booked for raping the minor.”
The three teenaged girls — one from Kamrup (metro) and the other two from Myanmar who had come to Calcutta to get their mother treated for some ailment — were trafficked to different locations in the country before their were rescued by anti-human trafficking organisations.
These girls today came forward to share their ordeal during a workshop on trafficking organised by Global Organisation for Life Development (GOLD) in the city today. The workshop focused on how to rehabilitate victims of human trafficking and the laws governing the trade in India.
Narrating the instances that led to the disappearance of his 16-year-old daughter, Abdul Latif said, “A person had attacked my daughter, injuring her on the head. The local women’s organisation had taken up the issue and filed a complaint against the accused with the police. The family of the accused started pressurising us to withdraw the case but the women’s organisation asked us not to do so. Soon, my daughter went missing. After a while, we received a call from her saying she had been forcibly taken to Haryana. When we called back on the number, a person from the other end said Rs 55,000 had already paid to us in exchange for our daughter.”
“We became suspicious and contacted police and GOLD. My daughter was finally located and rescued from Haryana a few days ago. We still do not know who had taken her away,” Latif, a resident of Noonmati here, added.
Now Latif is waiting for the state government to provide a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to his daughter.
“A few days after I was attacked, a person approached me saying he will take me along to visit some places. I refused, as I did not know him but he forcibly took me to Haryana and tried to sell me off to another person. There, I was confined to a house and not allowed to meet anyone. He was arrested at the time of my rescue,” said the girl, who still hesitates talking to people.
The two Myanmarese girls who went missing from Calcutta were traced to Mumbai and then rescued. They are currently staying at a shelter home run by GOLD here.
“We had come from Myanmar to Calcutta for treatment of our mother. Since the place was entirely new to us, we asked advice from a few people who were travelling with us on the same train. They said they would take us to some other place where we could get better treatment. But they tricked us into boarding a separate train, while our family members were left behind. Then we landed up in Mumbai from where we were rescued and brought here,” one of the girls said.
Speaking on the occasion, Gauhati High Court advocate Monojit Biswas said, “A case of trafficking should be handled by a special police officer who has to have good knowledge about the acts and laws governing human trafficking for any purpose. The guilty should be booked under several sections so that even if he manages to escape with minimal punishment under one section, he can be penalised under another. When a minor is forced into prostitution, even if a sexual act is performed with her consent, the law considers it to be a non-consent and the person indulging in such acts can be booked for raping the minor.”
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